The NFL Playoffs dominated Saturday, January 13, as anyone would reasonably expect.
Saturday’s Browns-Texans AFC Wild Card Game averaged a combined 12.8 rating and 26.1 million viewers across NBC (12.6, 25.86M) and Telemundo (0.14, 237K), per Nielsen, the largest sports audience of the day. Including additional streaming viewership tracked by Adobe Analytics, the game averaged 29.2 million.
On a Nielsen-only basis, ratings and viewership declined 5% from Seahawks-49ers on FOX last year (27.46M). Including the Adobe Analytics figure, viewership increased 6%. As the only network whose streaming viewership is measured by a separate company, NBC’s position is that the combined Nielsen-Adobe Analytics figure is comparable to other networks’ Nielsen-only numbers.
Final national figures for Dolphins-Chiefs on Peacock were not immediately available. NBC said Sunday that the game averaged 23 million viewers per Nielsen fast-nationals.
Outside of the NFL, a Kentucky-Texas A&M men’s college basketball game topped the ratings charts with a 0.8 and 1.52 million on ESPN, up 30% from North Carolina-Louisville last year (1.17M). Syracuse-North Carolina led-in with a 0.7 and 1.13 million, down nearly a third in viewership from Kentucky-Tennessee a year ago (1.67M).
A Manchester City-Newcastle English Premier League match ranked not far behind at a combined 0.7 and 1.38 million across NBC (0.7, 1.29M) and Universo (0.05, 96K), marking the second-largest EPL audience on NBC this season. Arsenal-Liverpool averaged 1.49 million last month. PBR bull riding also hit a season-high of sorts, scoring a 0.7 and 1.16 million on CBS — the highest of the season excluding telecasts that aired immediately following the NFL.
In women’s college basketball, Indiana-Iowa averaged a 0.6 and 1.04 million in primetime on FOX — the highest for a women’s game all season. The Hawkeyes’ blowout win was the first regular season women’s college basketball game on primetime broadcast television.
On ABC, a Rangers-Capitals NHL regular season game averaged a 0.53 and 954,000. In the same window last year, a Bucks-Heat NBA game averaged a 0.8 and 1.35 million. The NHL led into a women’s college gymnastics quad meet featuring Oklahoma, LSU, Utah and UCLA at a 0.39 and 634,000, up from the network’s previous regular season meet on the same weekend two years ago (Georgia-Florida: 0.40, 624K).
In the NBA, Warriors-Bucks drew a 0.19 and 336,000 on NBA TV, with no comparable window last year. Third round coverage of the PGA Tour Sony open drew a 0.14 and 217,000 on Golf Channel, down from last year’s 0.15 and 245,000.
First round coverage of the Australian Open chipped in a 0.11 and 174,000 after Midnight on ESPN2. The event started a day earlier than usual this year. The free dance of the European Figure Skating Championships had a 0.10 and 152,000 on E!.
Saturday, January 13 sports ratings
Updated with Peacock final nationals:
